Explore Sean’s Essays:
Gin Cart
In the early 19th century the industrial revolution began to take hold. The world was on the cusp of a rapid transformation, and society shifted from a focus on agriculture to industry. Mechanization came about, and factory jobs became the norm. People traded their time for...
Pattern matching in social situations
Do you ever notice that when you're with your friends or family that you change the way you speak? You might have a shared language or gestures that you only break out around them. You end up matching the patterns of the people you're around, and it puts everyone at ease. A few...
Transitional Living (4/10 students in the S. Bronx don’t have a home.)
New York is an amazing city. It is one of the largest drivers of commerce in our country. And I've been privellaged enough to live and work in its economic bubble for my entire life. Most people don't know that NYC has the poorest congressional district in the country. The...
CS Fair NYC
Computer literacy is a crucial skill for students to learn. Coding requires student to think and write logically, to deconstruct problems, and to persevere through challenging problems. These skills are crucial to doing work in the innovation economy, regardless of whether you...
Lean In
When things get hard and start to fall apart you have two choices: lean in or quit. Quitting feels easy. You can give up, remove yourself from the situation, and find something else to work on. But if you run away you won't learn or grow from the experience. But if you lean in...
Writing Apps
Product Hunt recently had a list of writing apps that I found to be pretty interesting. There are a few trends that seem to be driving the future of writing (and publishing) on the web. They are AI and command line UI. Artificial Intelligence is being used to help us write...
Mobile Payments, Hyperinflation, and Bitcoin
Paying with your cellphone is still a novel concept in most of America. But this has been the norm in Kenya for years. M-Pesa, a SMS based payment system, was launched in 2007. When I visited Kenya in 2010 I was surprised by how prevalent M-Pesa was across the country. It was...
Using Facebook Ads to Drive Your Friends Insane
The best pranks cause your friends to question their sanity. They are subtle and take place over a long time, slowly building. In celebration of April Fools I want to share with you a prank I ran last year - it ran for about 6 months. It all started with a race. My friends...
The End of Car Culture
Ever since the end of WW2, and the beginning of the suburban sprawl, car culture has flourished in America. Your car is an extension of yourself. And for decades the automakers have been working to provide us with yearly upgrades. Car culture is deeply ingrained in our society....